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Tectono‐sedimentary evolution of lower to middle Miocene half‐graben basins related to an extensional detachment fault (western Crete, Greece)
Author(s) -
Seidel Markus,
Seidel Eberhard,
Stöckhert Bernhard
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2006.00707.x
Subject(s) - geology , detachment fault , metamorphic core complex , metamorphic rock , graben , fault (geology) , sedimentary rock , seismology , tectonics , extensional tectonics , subduction , clastic rock , geomorphology , geochemistry , petrology , rift , extensional definition
Crustal extension in the overriding plate at the Aegean subduction zone, related to the rollback of the subducting African slab in the Miocene, resulted in a detachment fault separating high‐pressure/low‐temperature (HP‐LT) metamorphic lower from non‐metamorphic upper tectonic units on Crete. In western Crete, detachment faulting at deeper crustal levels was accompanied by structural disintegration of the hangingwall leading to the formation of half‐graben‐type sedimentary basins filled by alluvial fan and fan‐delta deposits. The coarse‐grained clastic sediments in these half‐grabens are exclusively derived from the non‐metamorphic units atop the detachment fault. Being in direct tectonic contact with HP‐LT metamorphic rocks of the lower tectonic units today, the basins must have formed in the period between c. 20 and 15 Ma, prior to the exposure of the HP‐LT metamorphic rocks at the surface, and juxtaposed with the latter during ongoing deformation.